Seirin High vs Tōō Academy
Seirin High vs Tōō High is the first round of the Winter Cup. It is Seirin and Tōō's second confrontation. Game Prologue Before the match, Riko gave Seirin orders that if Tōō looks down on them, it will be all over. It is therefor vital to score the first point and take the lead.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 115, page 8 At Tōō's side, Momoi saw through this strategy and told Tōō to not underestimate them and to absolutely not let them score the first point. Riko also foresaw that and told Seirin to go full assault again with Kuroko's new pass when they didn't get the first point. Before the match actually starts, both teams shake hands. Imayoshi notices that the entire Seirin team has matured and got a lot better. 1st quarter The tip off between Wakamatsu and Kiyoshi is won by Kiyoshi and Izuki gets the ball. Following Riko's orders, he dribbles the ball up court very fast, but Tōō doesn't hold back and stops Seirin with a pressure defense. The ball gets stolen by Sakurai when Izuki tries to pass and Tōō has its first turnover. Sakurai prepares to shoot, but passes to Aomine instead, who scores the first point with an alley-oop. Seirin's strategy didn't work and resorts to Riko's second orders, to use Kuroko's new pass to get a second assault. Kuroko gets the ball and prepares for his new pass, that looks like his Ignite Pass.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 115, page 17 He spins his arm and his wrist and hits the ball with the palm of his hand. The result is a spiral-based pass that not even Aomine can stop, it simply knocked his hand away. The ball flies over the court to Kiyoshi, who can barely catch the pass, and he jumps for a dunk. Arriving at the basket, Kiyoshi encounters Wakamatsu, who is just about to block the dunk. Kiyoshi uses his right of postponement and passes to Kagami, who dunks the ball furiously. Imayoshi dribbles the ball up court and gives a high pass to Yoshinori Susa, who scores a lay-up.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 116, page 12 This was a smart move of Imayoshi because Susa is much taller than his cover, Kuroko, and the high pass made Kuroko unable to steal the ball. The score is now 4 – 2, with 9:15 minutes to go in the first quarter. At Seirin's side, a shot goes off the rim and Wakamatsu overpowers Kiyoshi and takes the rebound. He passes to Sakurai, who scores a three pointer. Then, the long awaited show off between Kagami and Aomine begins.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 116, page 16 Kagami and Aomine battle the one-on-one out in Kagami's head, unseen for the audience. In Kagami's simulation, he seemingly passes Aomine but gets the ball stolen anyway, but in reality, the two players just stare at each other for a few seconds and when Kagami determines that he will lose the battle, he passes to Izuki. He says that he can't win from Aomine yet. The ball fumbles out of bounds and Seirin calls for a time-out. In the time-out, Hyūga decides that he will score a few three-pointers. When the match restarts, the ball ends up with Hyūga, with Sakurai marking him. Hyūga takes a step backwards, jumps and scores the shot. He tells a surprised Sakurai that that move is called a Barrier Jumper.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 117, page 16 He continues to shoot like that and keeps scoring three-pointers. Meanwhile, Sakurai decides by himself that he'll stop Hyūga on his own. When he has the ball and Hyūga guards him, he refuses to pass to Susa and shoots a three-pointer himself. His sudden shot causes stress under the basket, with Wakamatsu complaining they aren't ready yet. Against all odds, the shot goes in. As Seirin is on the offense, Hyūga asks Izuki to keep passing the ball to him. The match continues with only Sakurai and Hyūga scoring three-pointers, both with their respective quick-release shot and Barrier Jumper. Sakurai makes another shot with only a few seconds on the clock for the first quarter. Kuroko ends up with the ball and performs his Invisible Drive on Susa, passing him.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 118, page 16 He passes to Hyūga, who scores one last three-pointer and Seirin goes to the second quarter with a tie on the scoreboard: 22 – 22. 2nd quarter In the time-out, Midorima and the Tōō team begin to understand the nature of the Vanishing Drive. Tōō tries to stop the move by taking Kuroko and Kagami apart and Aomine takes the challenge of handling Kagami. The second quarter starts and Kuroko gets the ball, facing Aomine for a one-on-one. Kuroko and Kagami perform the Vanishing Drive and Kuroko seemingly gets past Aomine, but Aomine is able to "see" Kuroko and stop him. it is revealed that Aomine was closing his eyes and being inaffected by the misdirection.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 119, page 14 While he was doing that, he trusted on Kuroko's breath and their mutual understanding of basketball to follow him. Aomine steals Kuroko's ball, drives himself and dunks, taking the lead for Tōō. While throwing in, Kuroko pulls up for another Ignite Pass Kai, in an act of despair. His teammates tell him to stop, because both Kiyoshi and Kagami are marked. Kuroko doesn't listen and fires the pass anyway. The effort was futile, as Aomine stops the ball easily. He dribbles past Kuroko and Izuki and then shoots his formless shot, while guarded by Kagami. The ball grazes the board, flies high up in the air and goes through the rim.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 120, page 10 After Tōō scores a few times with Seirin's ball losses, Riko calls for a time-out. She pulls Kuroko out and puts Koganei in. Kagami promises that he'll show Aomine that their effort isn't futile. Back in the match, Kagami faces Aomine, but passes to Kiyoshi instead. Izuki cuts and Kiyoshi fakes a pass, but goes inside himself. He finishes with a simple lay-up. In Tōō's offense, Aomine has the ball. He goes up against Kagami and prepares his infamous change of pace, but Kagami suddenly dives in and goes for the steal. Aomine takes the ball out of his reach and passes him. He pulls up for the shot, but Kagami jumps behind him for the block. Finally showing his true power, Kagami blocks the shot.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 121, page 17 Seeing an awoken Kagami, Aomine decides to get serious. He goes up against Kagami and speeds up yet again, rising his speed to unknown heights. Aomine bounces the ball high up in the air between Kagami's legs and the ball heads towards the basket. Wakamatsu thinks it's an alley-oop for him, but Aomine runs towards the goal, takes the ball from Wakamatsu's hand and lays it in with his back to the ring. On Seirin's offense, Koga puts up a screen against Aomine and Kagami dribbles Aomine into the screen. Aomine however, spins behind Koga and catches up to Kagami easily. Kagami changes sides and goes past Koga again. He jumps and takes a shot, while Aomine jumps behind Koga and tries to block it. Koga is caught up in between when the ball goes in. Aomine and Kagami go up for it again and nearing the basket, Aomine does his formless shot. Kagami is finally able to block this impossible shot and begins to best Aomine.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 122, page 14 3rd quarter 4th quarter Aftermath References Category:Matches Category:Winter Cup Category:Seirin High Category:Tōō High